


French Generals and the Horses They Ride In On

by Wonderlandleighleigh



Series: The Loft Kids [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Chuck (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Original Characters who are the children of non-original characters, future type AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 12:03:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/926182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderlandleighleigh/pseuds/Wonderlandleighleigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian meets Willow's boyfriend, and since he is Damian, he vows to destroy him, one way or another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	French Generals and the Horses They Ride In On

The words “this is my boyfriend Jim” leave Willow’s lips, and Damian feels hot, gooey green jealous wind around his stomach.

He eyes this Jim person warily in the late afternoon sunlight of the quad. He has blonde hair, and slightly crooked teeth. He’s a little too skinny, and he’s got bright blue eyes that seem to hold no spark, and, despite his thinness, his face is a little bit chubby, as if it forgot to get rid of its baby fat.

There is nothing remarkable about this person. There is nothing interesting or worthy about this person.

Jim grins awkwardly and holds out a hand. “Hello,” he says in a British accent. “Jim Marbury.”

Damian looks down at the offered hand and doesn’t move a muscle. “Damian Wayne.”

Slowly, Jim lowers his hand. “Yes. Well. Good to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all yours, I assure you,” Damian tells him.

The snort that emanates from Maria Stark in that moment is, in a word, epic, and Willow shoots her a dirty look.

Jim just looks confused.

Good, Damian thinks. It’s good that he’s confused. The confused are far easier to prey on.

*****

“I have a question.”

He can hear the smile in Grayson’s voice; can hear how pleased he is to be the one Damian has called. 

“I am here to answer it,” Grayson tells him. “Fire away.”

“How would one go about making a girl see that she is with the wrong suitor?”

Silence fills the line. 

“Grayson?”

“Uh…you…what?” 

“I have met someone,” Damian informs him. “She’s is quite beautiful, and very smart. She fashioned a flamethrower out of a Bunsen burner, and she’s very kind and humorous.”

“But…she has a boyfriend.” 

“One who is a moron,” Damian grates out. “There is nothing extraordinary about him. I am far more worthy.”

“Uh…okay…” 

“How do I make her see this?”

“Well…you can’t,” Grayson tells him. His voice is worried and hesitant. “Not really. It’s not your place to decide who’s worthy. It’s hers.” 

“Yes, but how can I make her decide in my favor?”

“Damian,” Grayson says sternly. “You can’t make this girl do anything. If she likes the other guy, that’s something you’re just going to have to come to terms with.”

“Unacceptable,” Damian tells him. “There must be some way of proving that I am the better man.” 

Grayson sighs heavily.

“Mother would tell me to challenge him to a fight to the death.” 

“Yeah, well, I don’t know if you remember, but your mom kind of had you killed that one time,” Grayson snaps. “So maybe following her advice isn’t your best course of action.”

“I suppose…”

“Have you tried talking to this girl?” Grayson asks. “Asking her what she thinks of all this.”

“Clearly she thinks she is with the right person, and she is not,” Damian argues. “I have already said that.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

Damian stops and frowns. “No.”

“Well,” Grayson tells him. “In the end, that’s what this is about. This is about being honest about your feelings. If you really like her, tell her so.”

“And if she rejects me?”

“It’s an outcome you have to be prepared for with these situations,” Grayson tells him. “Everybody has their heart broken. Most people more than once.”

Damian huffs, and he knows he’s pouting, but he doesn’t much care. “Sometimes I wish for the old days, when I would have no qualms with slitting Marbury’s throat.”

Grayson sounds amused. “You really think that would make Willow want to date you? In my experience, doing things like that does the opposite. And does this kid really deserve to die?”

Damian thinks about this for a moment fore answering. “Yes. Yes, he does.”

“And why is that?”

“That kind of banal dullness should always be cut off at the neck.”

“He can’t be that bad,” Grayson chides. “Have you even tried to get to know him?”

“Tt. Why would I do that with a rival?” Damian scoffs, but stops. “Unless it will aid me in uncovering his weaknesses.”

“Damian,” Grayson warns. “No.”

“Yes,” Damian says. “Yes. I shall get to know the dullard and find his deepest weaknesses. Uncovering them will show Willow how unworthy he is, and leave me as the   
victor.”

“Oh my god, Damian. No.”

“Thank you, Grayson. This conversation has been most insightful.”

“Damian!”

Satisfied, Damian hangs up the phone.

*****

He joins the auto shop club because he knows Jim Marbury will be there. He’s pleasantly surprised when he finds Jamie Winchester is there as well.

There are only six members. Two other boys and a girl who they seem to think joined to impress them, but it’s clear that she is there because she enjoys working on cars.

This is all inconsequential to Damian.

“How much do you know about Marbury?” he asks Jamie as they fiddle with an old engine.

Jamie shrugs. “I dunno. Seems like a nice guy. Kinda boring. Harmless.”

“Indeed.”

“Why?”

“No real reason,” Damian says casually.

“Didn’t know you liked working on cars,” Jamie tells him with a grin.

Damian shrugs. “My father owns many cars.”

“Doesn’t mean you work on them or know anything about them,” Jamie grins. “My dad only owns one and he can take it apart and put it together in under a week. I thought you might be here to size Jim up cause you have a thing for Willow.”

Damian glowers. “How dare you. That is insulting. Of course I don’t have a…a ‘thing’ for Willow. She is merely a friend.”

“Uh-huh.”

Damian glowers more, but unlike the street punks of Gotham and a couple of his siblings, it has no affect on Jamie. The blonde boy merely grins and shrugs.

Damian crosses his arms. “How did you find out?” he mutters.

“It’s not hard,” Jamie says. “You spend a lot of time looking at her.”

“Perhaps I merely find her attractive, and nothing more,” Damian grumbles.

Jamie leans over and picks up a socket wrench. “You wouldn’t have been so mean to Jim when you met him if that were the case.”

“He deserves it,” Damian snaps. “He’s dull. And his face is stupid.”

Jamie snorts out a laugh. “Wow. That was staggeringly mature.”

Damian ignores him. “Aside from which, I am not particularly kind to most people.”

“Except Willow.”

Damian shuts his mouth.

“Yep. You totally have a thing for her.”

“Stop saying that,” Damian snaps.

“Aw, come on,” Jamie says. “We’re friends, right? You can tell me stuff.”

Damian hesitates. “I find her…engaging. And quite beautiful.”

“Well, she’s definitely both of those things,” Jamie nods. He nudges Damian. “Incoming.”

Damian looks up and spots Jim heading their way. He holds back a sneer and looks down at the engine again.

“Hullo, Jamie,” Jim says as he walks up. “Damian.”

Jamie grins. “What’s up, Jim?”

“The sky, I suppose,” Jim grins, and Damian fights hard not to roll his eyes. “How are you gents doing?”

“Fine,” Damian grates out. He attempts a smile, but the looks on Jim and Jamie’s faces tell him that he probably looks more horrifying than anything else.

“Good,” Jim nods, mildly nervous. “That’s good. How are you getting on with cleaning this engine?”

“Great.” Jamie makes all of this…this small talk; being kind to someone, he makes it look so simple. So effortless. He’s smiling amiably at Jim, like they hadn’t just been talking about Damian’s feelings for the other boy’s girlfriend.

Jim nods. “Do you need help with it?”

“We’re good,” Jamie says. “Damian’s actually got a lot more experience with cars than I thought he would.”

“My father owns many cars,” Damian says. “We work on them together sometimes.”

Jim nods slowly. “It must be nice to have access to all that.” 

Damian quirks a judgmental eyebrow. “It is.”

They stare at each other, and it’s then that Damian realizes that Marbury knows.

Jim takes a breath. “Well. If you have this covered, I’ll go back to working on the carburetors.”

“We got it covered,” Jamie nods, and gives a faint salute.

Jim nods back, eyes Damian for a moment, and then walks off.

Jamie watches the other boy walk off and then turns to Damian. “So he knows.”

“It would appear so.”

“He also thinks you’re a snob,” Jamie says.

“I am,” Damian says. 

***** 

While Jim is clearly aware that Damian has a "thing" for Willow, Willow herself is blissfully ignorant. 

She just does not seem to notice. While she's extremely intelligent (she is, after all, from a family of accomplished scientists, doctors and espionage experts), she's completely oblivious to Damian's affections.

Her pen runs out of ink in history class, and he lends her one of his extras. She smiles gratefully and says thank you, and at the end of class, hands it back to him. 

Pennyworth sends him a care package, and while Damian has never been one to share food (ever), he offers her a cookie. 

"Aw, thanks!" she grins and lifts one from the box.

He holds a door open for her on the way into chorus class, and she just grins and says thank you. 

How can she miss the signs? How can she be so thick about all this? Especially when Jim is eyeing him like he's a wanted criminal all the time. At least paranoia makes Marbury less boring. Not by much, really, but it's something. Of course, it makes Damian's attempts to get to know him difficult.

"I don't know," Colin says when Damian calls him to talk about this. "Have you tried just telling her how you feel?"

"Of course I have!" Damian snaps. 

"But not really, right?" Colin says. "Because you're you. And feelings aren't a thing you do well." 

"Tt." 

The grin is evident in Wilkes' voice. "You can 'tt' me all you want, but sooner or later, you're going to have to either come clean to her about how you feel, or let it go." 

"I'm better than he is," Damian grumbles. 

"This isn't about the other guy," Colin says. "Screw the other guy, you probably are better than he is. But if this girl doesn't see it that way then you're outta luck." 

"So I should stop focusing on getting to know Marbury and put my energy into getting to know Willow more and getting her to like me better." 

"You're gonna do what you want no matter what I say." 

Colin knows him better than almost anyone. It's both comforting and wildly irritating. 

"How are you?" Damian asks. 

"Slowly dying of venom poisoning," Colin says lightly. "And you?" 

"That isn't funny at all." 

Colin sighs dramatically. "And that was my best material. Guess I shouldn't quit my day job." 

"Your gallows humor is both admirable and disturbing." 

"That's what I was going for. Hey, the next time you come home, can you bring some bagels with you? I've heard great things about New York bagels." 

***** 

"You so have a thing for Willow." 

Damian throws up his hands and glowers up at Maria, who is standing over him in the quad as he attempts to read his physics textbook. "Do you mind?! I have ridiculous, pointless homework to finish!" 

Maria just smirks and tosses her dark hair back. "You so do." 

"Why do you people keep saying that?" 

"Because it's true," Maria says, and she's almost cooing as she takes a seat on the table next to his books. "And adorable." 

"Go away." 

"And you're way less boring than Jim," Maria continues. "I keep telling Willow that he's too boring, but she doesn't listen. I think she might like that he's boring." 

Damian stares at her.

"Her parents are spies, it's not like her life has been hum-drum," she shrugs. 

"So...she likes...dullards," Damian says slowly, still not quite sure where this conversation is going.

Maria smirks again at him and gets to her feet. "Maybe you should make better, more exciting moves than opening doors for her and lending her pens. Give her some insight into what not-boring is." 

Damian watches her walk off, and has a hard time concentrating on the rest of his homework, instead, brooding at the picnic table, keeping up his family legacy as Grayson would point out.

*****   
And the real question is, what is the most unboring thing Damian can think to do?

“I’m going to my father’s place in Aspen this weekend,” he tells Willow.

She lights up, smiling at him and his heart jumps right into his throat.

“That’s so cool! My family went to Aspen during winter break last year. Are you excited to spend time with your dad and brothers?”

“Actually, I’m going by myself,” Damian says smoothly.

“Wow, your dad is letting you go on vacation on your own?” Willow marvels.

Damian nods and grins at her, leaning in a little over the lunch table in the cafeteria. “I have an idea.”

She quirks up an eyebrow at him, looking a little wary. “Oh yeah?”

“Yes,” he says. “You could come with me.”

Both of her eyebrows jump now, and she looks genuinely surprised. “To Aspen. With no adults.”

“It’ll be fun,” Damian shrugs. “The two of us, all of that lovely snow…”

She stares at him in silence for a long moment.

“Well?” he asks. He feels nervous but he doesn’t want to let on.

“Do you like me?” Willow asks, and he nearly drops the cup of coffee he’s holding.

“What?”

Willow shrugs. “Maria says you do. Jim rants and raves about the fact that he thinks you like me, which is a little scary.”

Damian glowers at her. “That I would like you?”

“No!” she cries, waving her arms. “That he would get so crazy! He’s never like that and then suddenly he’s freaking out!”

Damian nods slowly, looking down at the table; anywhere but at Willow.

“We fought a lot about it,” she tells him.

He does his very, very best not to grin.

“Anyways…do you?” Willow asks, looking at him with wide eyes.

Who is he kidding? He can't do this.

He gazes at her, his eyes soft, and rests his hand on top of hers. "No, Willow. I do not like you that way." His voice is quiet and low. "I have no feelings for you." 

He doesn't wait for any sort of reply. He gathers his things, gets to his feet, and walks toward his dorm room without looking back.

*****

"Whatever happened with that girl?" Dick asks a few days later. "The one you liked?" 

"Nothing," Damian says quickly. 

"Aw, D, I'm sorry," Dick says. There's no teasing in his voice; no mirth. Just gentle support. "If you need to talk." 

"I'm fine. I joined the fencing club." 

Dick pauses for a moment. "That's great, Damian. Is it fun? Don't kick everybody's butts too hard, you'll give yourself away." 

*****  
Damian backs off, but apparently, this makes Jim even crazier, so Joey tells him.

"Holy crap, man," Joey says as they sit at dinner one night. "I mean, I knew the guy was insecure, but holy crap." 

"You said that already," Damian tells him. "And it's easy for you and I to think the rest of the world is insecure. Your father is Captain America, and mine is-" 

"Batman." 

Damian blinks and looks at his friend. "Bruce Wayne, billionaire philanthropist." 

Joey grins. "And Batman. He's in the SHIELD database, you know." 

Damian's eye twitches. "Do not. Tell. Anyone." 

"No sweat," Joey says. He's so nonchalant about it that it makes Damian feel mildly ill.

"You were saying about Marbury?" .

"Well, you're not going after Willow anymore, and that's made him even more paranoid," Joey tells him, popping a bite of steak into his mouth. "He thinks you backed off because you and Willow are seeing each other behind his back and trying to keep it a secret."

Damian frowns. "That is insane." 

"Yep! And you wish it were true." 

"She would never." 

"Nope! Not in a million years. You still wish it were true." 

Damian rolls his eyes. "Has she broken up with him yet?" 

"No, she's Willow," Joey reminds him. "So she's going to do everything she can to fix things." 

"That's ridiculous," Damian shakes his head. "If he cannot find it in himself to trust her, then there is nothing to fix." 

"Maria's been saying that for the last three days," Joey nods. "But she's Willow." 

Damian huffs and pushes the food around his plate. "She is Willow." 

"That's why you like her so much," Joey teases, and Damian fixes him with a hard stare.

"You are far too intuitive." 

"I'm amazing," Joey smiles. 

Damian doesn't get to tell him he's a fool, before Willow drops her tray down next to Joey's and then drops herself down on the bench, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes.

Joey's smile drops immediately. "Whoa. Hey, Will, what-?" 

"Jim broke up with me," Willow sniffles. "He...he says I'm a cheater and a liar and-" 

Red flashes in front of Damian's eyes and he stands up from the table, heading for the door. He's not really thinking and when he comes upon Jim, who is being yelled at by Maria just outside the dining hall, he swiftly reels a fist back and punches the other boy in the mouth.

"Hey!" Maria cries as Jim stumbles and hits the ground. "I wasn't done!" 

Damian merely turns and walks back into the dining hall, sitting back down. He shoves a forkful of food into his mouth and doesn't really notice that both Joey and Willow are watching him.

He doesn't notice much of anything until Willow sets her biscuit (the dining hall biscuits are incredibly delicious, and despite his usually health-conscious attitude   
toward food, he finds he cannot resist them) on his tray.

It is a silent thank you, and he nods.

***** 

Things are quiet after that. Willow looks a little sad sometimes, but she slowly comes out of it, thanks to Jamie's constant Neanderthalesque humor, and Maria and Joey's encouragements. Damian doesn't spend much time around them, steering clear of things for the most part. 

Willow is sad, and he's never been very adept of comfort, so he keeps his distance. 

Until the history project.

Their teacher matches up partners by pairing someone whose last name is at the top of the alphabet with someone whose last name is at the bottom. 

Of course. “Bartowski and Wayne.” 

They’re assigned the Battle of the Argonne Forest from World War One, and as they plan out what they’re project will look like, Willow giggles. 

“What is it that you’re giggling about?” Damian asks, half amused, half annoyed.

She keeps giggling. “The guy’s name is Ferdinand Foch!” 

Damian quirks an eyebrow and leans against the tree they’re sitting under, books and netbooks spread out in front of them. It’s breezy and sunny and really very pleasant, and if there weren’t so much schoolwork to get done, Damian could almost pretend that this is a date.

Not that he’s thinking about such things.

“Aw, come on,” she nudges him playfully. 

He quirks his lip upwards, not because of the name of the French General, but because there’s something infectious about Willow’s amusement. It’s nice to see her feeling better. 

“It’s prounounced with an ‘SH,’ Willow.” 

“Still funny,” she tells him, and she beams and it feels as though the sun gets brighter for a moment, before they dive back into their work.

Time flies because she’s easy to work with and talk to and be around, and before Damian knows it, it’s been an hour and a half of working and talking and Willow’s steady stream of French General jokes. 

“Perhaps we should work those into our project.”

Willow snorts. “Something tells me Mr. Stevens wouldn’t appreciate an ‘Oh Foch’ joke.” 

Damian laughs genuinely, but it dies as Jim approaches them, looking sullen with his bruised right eye where Damian’s punch had landed. They’d told his father about that, the punching, and he’d received a very stern phone call about not getting into fights and protecting his identity. 

He watches as Willow’s pleased smile dies as well, and she tosses her hair back as the wind picks up a little. 

“Hey, Jim,” she says. 

Jim nods and swallows, obviously nervous. “Willow…can we talk?” 

Willow shrugs, but doesn’t move. “Sure.” 

“Alone?” 

“No thanks,” she says. “Here’s good.” 

Damian quirks a challenging eyebrow at Jim, who fidgets. 

“I was…well…I was wondering if…if you’d consider possibly giving me another chance,” Jim says. “I made a mistake, breaking things off with you, and I…I said some terrible things…” 

“Yes, you did,” Willow agrees matter-of-factly. She’s not giving anything away. 

Jim bites his lip. “Well…?” 

Damian watches Willow closely as she thinks this over. He’ll never admit to trying to will her to tell him no, but-

“You know what? No,” Willow says. “I’m sorry, but…no. No.” 

Damian does his very, very best not to grin as he looks to Jim, who looks as if someone kicked him in the gut. 

“You really thought I was cheating on you,” Willow goes on. “Which means you didn’t bother to really pay attention to who I am. So I don’t think we should be together.” 

Jim nods and swallow. “Right. Right, then.”

Willow nods confidently. “Okay. Well…Damian and I have a project to work on, so…”

“Right, yes of course,” Jim says and stumbles off again.

Damian watches him, and then turns to Willow. He’s full of questions but she doesn’t look like she’s in the mood to answer any of them.

She grins at him a little. “Let’s get this Foch-ing project started.” 

He nods, and dives in with her.


End file.
